Alameda Pots
A skill worth sharing...
Dave, a former ED nurse and IT wiz kid, has transformed his lifelong passion for pottery into a new venture.
Frustrated by the lack of opportunities for his own children to learn pottery in Alameda, he decided to create a school that would offer pottery classes.
Drawing from his experience, Dave aims to inspire his students and foster their creativity through the art of ceramics.
Carmen is a Dominican American artist whose work is inspired by the
coast of her native California.
She began studying ceramics in 2016.
After surviving the tragic Ghost Ship Fire later that year, Carmen used pottery as a form of art therapy to cope with the trauma, finding peace in throwing on the wheel.
Carmen later began tile making in tribute to her Spanish and Portuguese ancestry.
Now Carmen teaches ceramics to share the joy of art as medicine and meditation.
Andrew received a BFA in Ceramics from The Ohio State
University and an MFA in ceramics from Kent State University many lifetimes ago.
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Over the years he has worked at production potteries in NYC, worked as a pedicab driver in Manhattan, and taught ceramics at several colleges and universities from the East Coast to the West Coast.
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He currently teaches for the Special Education department in Alameda and is working on raising two kids here on the West Side.
He loves throwing pottery on the wheel as well as hand building pottery, clay animals, or whatever comes to mind.
Janet is a tech exec and mom to two teenagers. She started working
with clay as a form of self-care and a way to nurture her creativity, and quickly fell in love with the possibilities the medium offers. She particularly loves the meditative aspect of the work, whether that's throwing, carving, or painting.
She brings a rich understanding of body mechanics and aesthetics to her instruction, having worked as a sports massage therapist and dance teacher many lifetimes ago on the East Coast. She loves the community that ceramics can create, and is excited to support a vibrant arts community here in Alameda.
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Janet's art incorporates function, form, and occasional irreverence. She's always exploring more ideas for artistic expression.
